Users and Learners
“In general, learners are engaged primarily in structure or semistructured learning experiences, whereas end users are engaged in tool use.” (this really should not be online, but here’s the source).
I was reading this today in the course of some research and the thought that sprung to mind was that this might be a false distinction or at least not a very useful one. If it ever had some truth to it, isn’t the kind of “learning” that most people do these days done as an “end user”? Our “tools” vary, but a certain philosophical perspective would say that all human activity is some kind of tool use (including working with ideas). Isn’t it that kind of learning that we are working to shape and provide tools for?
Comment by Inez
And may we also speculate that learning is simply becoming aware of what already is? Differing in that sense from creating or experimenting, the tools that help us learn are those that wake us up to reality. Everything already is, we are just limited in our experience.
Posted on March 22, 2006 at 4:50 pm